With so much recent attention in the business and digital press, the Millennial Generation have become a large topic of discussion. Adam Smith, Managing Director at Rawnet looks at how brands can this innate digital savviness be utilised to create better brand engagement with Millennial consumers.
If you haven’t already heard about Millennials, they were born between 1977 and 1995, and are the first generation to have grown up with the internet at their fingertips. This sort of tech-enhanced upbringing has changed the way modern consumers engage with brands.
The First Digital Natives
Representing a quarter of the world’s current population, Millennials are a digital consumption powerhouse – averaging over 96 hours per week spent online. But they aren’t just a distant concern, they are already coming of age; with some having settled down with kids, homes and substantial careers. In fact, by 2020, Millennials will be the majority generation represented in the workforce.
This means they have a huge level of immediate influence, socially, digitally and financially. Millennials are already purchasing your products, using your services and contributing to general society. But with such a drastic shift in technology during their lifetimes, how can brands go about successfully engaging with Millennials in a meaningful manner?
Modern marketing has seen a huge change in focus, moving away from crafting brand communications toward creating strong brand experiences. This shift is largely due to the gigantic leap in technology over the last 20 years. The Millennial generation have grown up during this shift and now expect brand experiences to work flawlessly on every single device they use.
This could range from a streamlined website which delivers valuable content, all the way to the way products are purchased in-store. Millennials have an innate understanding of tech, and know if there are technical limitations or if you as a brand are just being lazy.
The 6 Millennial Maxims
After 23 years, the web has reached a certain level of maturity – which aligns nicely with the Millennial generation’s coming of age. With businesses having to focus more and more of their business in the online realm, how can brands leverage Millennials innate digital understanding to better engage with them online? Below is our list of the six core expectations that Millennials have when dealing with brand services, products and experiences.
1 – Speed of Service
It’s no longer excusable to have an average service. Brands need to be asking themselves whether or not they are creating an experience Millennials can decipher whether or not there is a limitation of technology or if they are failing to deliver a compelling and valuable service. “Why can’t I just do this online?” is a common Millennial thought – and why not?
Smart organisations convert traditional products and services and offer them to consumers online. GOV.UK is a prime example of this, taking countless old resources and services and converting them into one, seamless online portal – that just works. Ultimately providing honest, up-to-date information will ensure Millennials have a smooth experience, which will only serve to ensure they continue to engage with you.
2 – Time to Browse
The challenge now for marketers is to move Millennials from the browsing phase, into the purchase phase. Our findings found that a third of Millennial consumers have more fun browsing for items than they do purchasing them. Research and reviews are important. Smart marketers are focusing on moving Millennials into the purchase phase by keeping them engaged in their digital ecosystem with valuable content and resources.
Branded online education tools that offer transparent information about specific products or services will allow Millennials to stay in your ecosystem whilst they conduct valuable research. Brands that focus on bulking up their resources with user reviews (both written and video), social recommendations and curated wish lists, will be able to utilise their brand advocates to share their experiences with other Millennials in order to win them over. Creating a community-driven, trusted online resource will not only keep Millennials engaged with your brand on your turf, it will also guide consumers towards a purchase.
3 – Integrating Experiences
The days of the scattergun marketing approach are drawing to a close. Innovative brands are using digital to not only reach Millennials, but also to enrich their lives. In fact, three quarters of Millennials want brands to provide the opportunity to receive more life experiences.
Algorithmic recommendations, integrations with chosen apps and even streamlining day-to-day activities of Millennial users will help to engage them and turn them into brand advocates.
4 – Online Communication
Millennials are already heavily invested in digital services and technologies, and prefer to use automated convenient experiences over that of a one-to-one human service. Brands are consequently becoming more aware that they need to have streamlined online processes, which offer a complete end-to-end experience. Millennials simply won’t bother with a service if they can’t use it on all their devices.
Our research revealed that almost two-thirds (64%) of Millennials want brands to offer more ways for them to communicate online. Banks such as NatWest are fantastic at providing mobile apps and web experiences that remove the need for human interaction.
Whilst older generations are only just warming up to the idea of trusting an app with banking information, Millennials are using everyday services such as banking online, with no face-to-face communication in addition to the core social media channels.
US Banks are even leveraging this to understand how to offer better services for this target audience, but UK brands are still lagging behind in some respects.
5 – Imagery and Video
With four fifths of our survey sample claiming to have posted at least one photo online, rich media content can and will continue to be a core way for brands to drive engagement.
Clever brands such as Coca-Cola encourage Millennials to share their own experiences through imagery and videos. The hugely successful ‘Share a Coke’ campaign broke the branding rulebook and replaced Coke’s iconic logo on every bottle with a random or bespoke first name. Soon after launch, consumers were sharing pictures of Coke products with names of their friends and family. By purchasing a Coke product during the campaign, you were gaining more than just a tasty beverage – you were gaining a creative, social, personal experience.
6 – Becoming part of the creative process
Getting Millennials involved in your brand process through co-creation can not only help create a better experience for them personally, it can provide valuable insight into what matters to them the most.
Our research highlighted that 40% of Millennials want to be able to influence a brands product, whilst one fifth want to connect to other brand advocates or fans, so creating opportunities which enable these interactions should be a high priority.
New customer data, increased profitability and added loyalty will ultimately lead to increased sales and brand awareness. Whether it be contributing to the product/service, the marketing process or the overall experience, brands that offer Millennials the chance to co-create are bound to forge brand loyalty from the creative generation.
By Adam Smith
Managing Director
Rawnet
http://www.rawnet.com/